


Hollow

by ViciousVenin



Series: The Mess We've Made [3]
Category: Bandom, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Domestic, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Insomnia, M/M, Melancholy, Sad, Storytelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 16:23:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14622510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViciousVenin/pseuds/ViciousVenin
Summary: Frank can't sleep.





	Hollow

**Author's Note:**

> I came up with this one night when I couldn't sleep. I'm never gonna be able to let these guys go, am I?

The rustling of sheets and a creaking movement in the bed wakes Gerard slowly. Before he opens his eyes, he comes back to where he is: the warm familiarity of his and Frank's bed, the heat of Frank's body next to him reminding him that everything is okay. 

Frank makes a frustrated noise, and Gerard opens his eyes. The room is dark, the sun still far from rising, and he can only just see the outline of Frank's rigid back. Frank groans again, shifting restlessly under the blankets. 

"Hey," Gerard says softly, placing a calming hand on Frank's shoulder. "You okay?" 

"Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." Frank rolls over so he's facing Gerard. His eyes are tired and sunken, the circles beneath them darker than ever. 

"Can't sleep?" Gerard asks. 

Frank sighs and scrubs a hand over his face. "Yeah." 

"Can I help?" He's never been with Frank during one of his bouts of insomnia. Usually they both pass out at the same time, Frank somehow being able to sleep much better when Gerard's around than when he's not, which Frank has said again and again he's thankful for. 

"I dunno." Frank looks at Gerard again. "I'm just antsy, I guess." 

Gerard nods. They've been off tour for weeks, barely practicing or even seeing each other as a band. The plan was to take a much-deserved break, but it hasn't been all that relaxing, not for Frank, at least. "We'll be back at it soon. And Mikey said he got in touch with some guy who wants to manage us. Brian something. Things'll pick up again." 

"I know. That doesn't help me  _now_  though." 

Gerard chuckles softly. "Yeah," he says. "You're sure I can't help?" 

Frank considers it for a moment, and then says, "Maybe... Okay, don't laugh." He makes Gerard promise he won't before continuing. "Maybe if you told me a story, it would help." 

Gerard raises his eyebrows but doesn't comment. "What kind of story?" 

"Anything," Frank says, shrugging. "Whatever comes to mind." 

"Hmm." He thinks about it, trying to come up with something from his past that Frank would find interesting enough to listen to, but not so interesting that it keeps him up all night. "Okay." 

Frank smiles. "Okay." He turns back around and snuggles up to Gerard, back to chest. 

Gerard slings an arm over Frank's waist and brings him even closer, resting his forehead against the nape of Frank's neck. "So, there was this one time Mikey and I really wanted a drink. I was maybe fifteen, so he was around twelve, and we didn't have anyone to buy us booze so we went and stood outside 7-11 for, like,  _hours_ , but no one we asked would get us anything. Mikey got so fed up with it that he called me a pussy and marched right in the front door." He smiles fondly against Frank's neck, remembering. "I followed him in. He went straight over to the coolers and plucked out a six pack of the cheapest piss beer on the rack. He handed it to me, saying if I bought it we'd be less likely to get caught 'cause I looked older. But, I mean, I was a freshman. I still had all my baby fat and shit." 

Frank giggles. "Yeah, now you only have some of it." 

"Shut up," Gerard says, laughing softly. "So I convinced Mikey that we had to steal it if we were getting out of there with the booze. We got caught, of course. We were probably the most obvious motherfuckers to ever try to shoplift anything. Anyway, the dude on the night shift wasn't that much older, maybe twenty, and somehow he bought our story that I was twenty-one, we just didn't have any money. He let us put the beer back and walk out of there clean." Gerard pauses and takes a deep breath, the smile falling from his face. "The thing was, I knew there was no way in hell he believed that shit. The look he gave me... It was like he  _pit_ _ied_  me. I was just some sad kid who didn't have any friends but my dorky younger brother. He let us get away with it because he felt bad for us." He pauses again, remembering how it felt to walk out into the cold night air knowing the loser on the graveyard shift at 7-11 was pitying  _him_. "Mikey was all hopped up on it. Said we could get better, could start stealing shit all the time and get away with it. No one would know. I told him it was stupid, that we'd get caught and sent to juvie or something. I don't remember what I said. But what I was really thinking was that I couldn't stand anyone else looking at me like that guy did. I wasn't gonna give anyone the opportunity to make me feel like I didn't deserve anything but their pity." 

Frank is silent for a while after Gerard stops talking. He's silent for so long that Gerard thinks he might have fallen asleep. But then he shifts a little, turning his head so he can bump Gerard's nose with his own. "You don't ever have to worry about that. Not from me." 

"I know, Frankie." And he did know, and that was enough. 


End file.
